The most memorable minigames ever

The best - and worst - games-in-games around

Even two console generations ago we stopped batting our eyelids if games contained other, smaller games within them. It didn’t even seem odd if whole games were made up of dozens of little ones. Nowadays we use minigame mechanisms to open doors, enact fancy stealth kills, slaughter bosses or open chests. Minigames are everywhere, be it shoving boulders in Conan, coercing peasants in Oblivion or doing anything at all in Thrillville or Jackass.

Five years from now, we’d not be surprised to see Sony Japan release Ultimate Life Sim for PS3, where you’ve got to tap a button sequence in time with the music in order to open a jar of pear halves for breakfast or starve. Don’t scoff, it’ll shift more units than The Bible, without a doubt. And so, we offer you a diverse glimpse of some of the maddest, baddest or just best minigames that cropped up in recent years...

MercenariesFrom:Resident Evil 4Unlock: Finish the gameMini-rating: 10/10 Minigames don’t get much bigger than this hectic, beautifully stressful, arena-based set of survival challenges. The essence of the combat in easy-to-swallow pill form.

Sexy Time From: God of War 2Unlock: Hidden in first stageMini-rating: 6/10 Here, Kratos ‘entertains’ buxom nymphs at the local spa. You don’t see much, for better or worse, but we suppose a god has to get what he can when he’s on the move so often.

Ballz Out From: The Guy GameUnlock: There from the startMini-rating: 7/10 This is, bluntly, a quiz about women getting their melons out. Oddly it has ball-based minigames, including this: use your big ball to hit more little balls out of the arena than your rival.

AnacondaFrom: TimeSplitters 2Unlock: Find in the first stageMini-rating: 6/10 An homage to thumb-defiling phone classic Snake. It’s far from sparkly when on your own, but throw a second player into the mix, and it becomes damned competitive, damned fast.

36 ChambersFrom: Viewtiful Joe 2Unlock: Appears in main gameMini-rating: 7/10 The 36 Chambers, like their kung fu namesake, are a set of grueling trials, designed to push your ability to the limit. Short and sweet enough to persuade you to test your mettle.

Five years from now, we’d not be surprised to see Sony Japan release Ultimate Life Sim for PS3, where you’ve got to tap a button sequence in time with the music in order to open a jar of pear halves for breakfast or starve. Don’t scoff, it’ll shift more units than The Bible, without a doubt. And so, we offer you a diverse glimpse of some of the maddest, baddest or just best minigames that cropped up in recent years...

MercenariesFrom:Resident Evil 4Unlock: Finish the gameMini-rating: 10/10 Minigames don’t get much bigger than this hectic, beautifully stressful, arena-based set of survival challenges. The essence of the combat in easy-to-swallow pill form.

Sexy Time From: God of War 2Unlock: Hidden in first stageMini-rating: 6/10 Here, Kratos ‘entertains’ buxom nymphs at the local spa. You don’t see much, for better or worse, but we suppose a god has to get what he can when he’s on the move so often.

Ballz Out From: The Guy GameUnlock: There from the startMini-rating: 7/10 This is, bluntly, a quiz about women getting their melons out. Oddly it has ball-based minigames, including this: use your big ball to hit more little balls out of the arena than your rival.

AnacondaFrom: TimeSplitters 2Unlock: Find in the first stageMini-rating: 6/10 An homage to thumb-defiling phone classic Snake. It’s far from sparkly when on your own, but throw a second player into the mix, and it becomes damned competitive, damned fast.

36 ChambersFrom: Viewtiful Joe 2Unlock: Appears in main gameMini-rating: 7/10 The 36 Chambers, like their kung fu namesake, are a set of grueling trials, designed to push your ability to the limit. Short and sweet enough to persuade you to test your mettle.